Divorce & BBQ party at James' (20th March 2010)
James invited a bunch of friends over to his place this evening for a joint divorce and BBQ party - he and his friend Cilla were both celebrating their official separation from their insignificant others (their words, not mine!). It has been several years of battle for both James and Cilla going through the stress and pain from their respective marriage splits so as friends, we were there to celebrate their newfound freedom, even though a 'divorce party' sounds rather inappropriate/wrong to attend. Actually, do people even celebrate a divorce??? This is definitely the first of such party I'm invited too!
Headed over to James' around 5.30pm with Jono and caught up with friends over drinks and nibbles. James had some of us girls make salads and I made my usual kumara salad (Jono was a great assistant helping me make the salad), a favourite of mine to bring to BBQs ;) "Oh my god, how much meat and alcohol did you buy??!!" I exclaimed at James when he opened his fridge to show me what he has got. He had bought enough to feed a whole village! And everyone brought along some meat and drinks too!! We'll have more than enough food tonight, that's for sure :) Pamela brought out cheese, crackers and dried figs soaked in balsamic vinegar - who would have thought balsamic-soaked figs eaten together with blue cheese and a cracker with a sip of wine would taste so divine! A burst of flavours that awakens the tastebuds. And I don't even like blue cheese - this is a great way to get non-cheese lovers hooked on the good stuff!
This was what I found when he closed the door of the fridge, a poster that read "It's better to have loved and lost, than to live with a psycho for the rest of your life!". Naughty!
It was a very chilled out evening spent with friends mostly from the swing dance scene. James' driveway became the party place with lounge seats and chairs placed near the BBQ, a pool table set up (interestingly, the pool table had to be propped up on one end but was still slightly slanted which probably made the game rather challenging) accompanied by Damon DJ-ing on his turntable throughout the party. Damon brought along a wide selection of tunes and as the night progressed, played more upbeat music with plenty of jazz music too for those of us who fancied some swing dancing. Haha, we could see the students from the hostel nearby watching us having a great time from their windows, as if wishing they were part of the party! James was busy manning the BBQ, cooking up a feast for the guests which included his family members. All of us could tell that James was really happy - he had this happy smile plastered on his face the whole time. I'm happy that he's having a great time and happy :) And he did such a great job on the barbie - the grilled vegetables, meat and sausages were YUM! I think I ate TOO much...
More chit-chats with friends and one too many rosé wines later (James insisted that we left the car at home so we could drink - oo, getting lightheaded and tipsy...), a few of us were ushered to the garage by James for a few swing dances. It has been awhile since I last danced swing and surprisingly did alright on the steps dancing with James despite the many drinks...hehe...Jono was so cute - he doesn't know how to dance swing but gave it a go anyway and we even practiced the salsa moves he learnt in his beginners salsa classes to the songs. Such great fun!
Guests started to leave around 12ish and half the party headed up to James' lounge for a SingStar (a competitive music video game on Playstation) sing-off. I wondered if it was the alcohol or what but even Jono and I jumped on the SingStar and sang a few songs! You know, I've never been a fan of karaoke but for my first attempt at the SingStar, I must admit, it was fun! Jono's such a mic-hogger (he wanted to sing some more!) and damn, he's good singer - there was no way I could beat him at SingStar!! Had a few more sing-a-longs with the crowd and headed off home about 1.30am. Photos taken tonight: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8070917@N05/sets/72157623535066589/detail/
Thanks for the invite to the party James - you were an amazing host and we had a blast!
Headed over to James' around 5.30pm with Jono and caught up with friends over drinks and nibbles. James had some of us girls make salads and I made my usual kumara salad (Jono was a great assistant helping me make the salad), a favourite of mine to bring to BBQs ;) "Oh my god, how much meat and alcohol did you buy??!!" I exclaimed at James when he opened his fridge to show me what he has got. He had bought enough to feed a whole village! And everyone brought along some meat and drinks too!! We'll have more than enough food tonight, that's for sure :) Pamela brought out cheese, crackers and dried figs soaked in balsamic vinegar - who would have thought balsamic-soaked figs eaten together with blue cheese and a cracker with a sip of wine would taste so divine! A burst of flavours that awakens the tastebuds. And I don't even like blue cheese - this is a great way to get non-cheese lovers hooked on the good stuff!
This was what I found when he closed the door of the fridge, a poster that read "It's better to have loved and lost, than to live with a psycho for the rest of your life!". Naughty!
It was a very chilled out evening spent with friends mostly from the swing dance scene. James' driveway became the party place with lounge seats and chairs placed near the BBQ, a pool table set up (interestingly, the pool table had to be propped up on one end but was still slightly slanted which probably made the game rather challenging) accompanied by Damon DJ-ing on his turntable throughout the party. Damon brought along a wide selection of tunes and as the night progressed, played more upbeat music with plenty of jazz music too for those of us who fancied some swing dancing. Haha, we could see the students from the hostel nearby watching us having a great time from their windows, as if wishing they were part of the party! James was busy manning the BBQ, cooking up a feast for the guests which included his family members. All of us could tell that James was really happy - he had this happy smile plastered on his face the whole time. I'm happy that he's having a great time and happy :) And he did such a great job on the barbie - the grilled vegetables, meat and sausages were YUM! I think I ate TOO much...
More chit-chats with friends and one too many rosé wines later (James insisted that we left the car at home so we could drink - oo, getting lightheaded and tipsy...), a few of us were ushered to the garage by James for a few swing dances. It has been awhile since I last danced swing and surprisingly did alright on the steps dancing with James despite the many drinks...hehe...Jono was so cute - he doesn't know how to dance swing but gave it a go anyway and we even practiced the salsa moves he learnt in his beginners salsa classes to the songs. Such great fun!
Guests started to leave around 12ish and half the party headed up to James' lounge for a SingStar (a competitive music video game on Playstation) sing-off. I wondered if it was the alcohol or what but even Jono and I jumped on the SingStar and sang a few songs! You know, I've never been a fan of karaoke but for my first attempt at the SingStar, I must admit, it was fun! Jono's such a mic-hogger (he wanted to sing some more!) and damn, he's good singer - there was no way I could beat him at SingStar!! Had a few more sing-a-longs with the crowd and headed off home about 1.30am. Photos taken tonight: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8070917@N05/sets/72157623535066589/detail/
Thanks for the invite to the party James - you were an amazing host and we had a blast!
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